Golf game



United, States Patent Inventor Appl. No. Filed GOLF GAME 5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 206/46; 273/872, 273/129 Int. Cl. A63b 67/02; A63f 7/06, A63f 7/10 Field of Search 273/87, 87.2, 87.4, 129; 20 6/(Consulted), 206/46 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,051,487 8/1962 Miller 3,054,615 9/1962 Budish 3,038,726 6/1962 Wesidence 273/195X FORElGN PATENTS 224,709 1924 Great Britain 273/872 510,333 1939 Great Britain.

Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman and Mc Cord ABSTRACT: A golf game board made by coloring areas on a deformable sheet, applying fine sand to some of the colored areas before the coloring material dries to define sand traps, applying an adhesive on other areas of the sheet, forming the sheet with the colored and adhesive areas facing upward, applying flock to the adhesive before it sets and removing surplus sand and flock from the surface after the adhesive sets. The game board is contoured and includes a tee, fairway and green having a cup. A ball is provided and a specialized club is provided for striking the ball. The club has a two-faced head, a vertical shaft and a lateral handle generally parallel with the a head and having outer cylindrical gripping surface for rotating the handle between the player's fingers to strike the ball. The gripping surface provides the sole means of support for the club. The board may be formed from a foam plastic material with contours on both sides and a peripheral rib extending outwardly from its edge. A cover member on each side of the board engages the rib and together form a storage box.

Patented Nov. 3,1970 3,537,576

Sheet 2 of 2 GOLF GAME THE DISCLOSURE This application is a continuation of application No. 480,354, filed Aug. [7, I965 andnow abandoned.

This invention relates to a game and more particularly to a golf game and to methods of manufacturing same.

The game of golf is becoming very popular today and is stimulating interests in not only the business of conventional golf and the associated supplies and services, but also in ancillary items which relate to the game of golf. There are many people of all ages who for one reason or another cannot play the game of golf outside, but still enjoy the concept of golf, the sporting competition and the competitive spirit it engenders. For young people to learn the rules of golf and the skill aspects of the game, for the older or inbetween group who are not able to play for one reason or another, and for the ones who would like to brush up on the rules and on the skills, a game of golf on a miniature scale'is' very desirable. Many such miniature golf games have been designed, but due to the complexity of the particular design, the cost of making the game is too high and no real skill is taught. Other prior devices were so simple as to be worthless in teaching skills or rules of the game. Many devices used mechanical clubs to move the ball which are not adapted to develop skill orperrnit the individual participation that stimulates interest.

It'is therefore a principal object of my invention to overcome the above noted disadvantages and to provide an improved golf game.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved golf game board having traps and obstacles simulating actual golfing conditions.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved golf game having tees and greens separated by fairways treated in such a way as to simulate natural conditions.

And another object of my invention is to provide an improved golf game wherein rules of golf and scoring practices are similar to conventional golf rules of play.

Still a further object of my invention is to {provide an improved golf game, that is compactly designed to produce a large game surface in approximately half the usual space.

Still another object of my invention is to provide an improved golf club for use with the golf game board.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved golf club which can be manipulated in a way to develop regular golfing skills.

And another object of my invention is to provide an improved golf club which can be used for both left and right hand golfers.

And another object of my invention is to provide an improved method of making a golf game board that is simple in construction, inexpensive in use and highly efficient in accomplishing its desired results.

These and other objects and advantages willbecome readily apparent from the following description taken in' connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a completed game showing my invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the first step in the manufacture of the board four-line game;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the second step of my method;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view after forming the board of FIGS. 1 and 2; g

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG.'7 is a perspective view of the golf club used with my improved golf game;

FIG. 8 is a perspective. view of a modified form of my invention with parts exploded and in partial view; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIG.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail herein, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms and it should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplitication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the arm bodiment illustrated. The. scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail wherein similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 10 generally indicates one form of my novel game board made up of a one-piece molded plastic sheet 11 having a plurality of tee-off portions 12, fairways 14 and greens 16. Hazards such as roughs 18 and sandtraps 20 are providedalong the fairways and around the greens. Ball receiving cups 22 are formed in the greens with the top lip flush with the surface of the green in the usual golf cup fashion. A border 24 can be molded completely around the outer rim or edge of the sheet to add rigidity or stiffness to the game and to retain the elements of the game within the confines of the board.

It is believed to be obvious that instead of a molded plastic material forming the body of the board. papier rnuchc, pressed wood or other type materials can be used without departing from the spirit of my invention. The border 24 can be of a separate material such as stainless steel, wood or the like instead of being molded or formed integrally with the body of the game.

In manufacturing my improved golf game, a rectangular sheet of material 26 such as plastic is cut to the desired size and shape such as a rectangular shape. The tee markers 28 are located by an arrow with the number of the tee printed in a color which could be brown. The sandtraps 20 are likewise mask and brush or the like. Next, by a silk screen or printing process, an adhesive material 30 is deposited on the plastic sheet 26 in the general shape of the portion of the game board that will form the fairways, tee-off areas and greens. The adhesive 30 will not be placed over the colored tee markers 28 and traps 20 which were-deposited in the previous step. The adhesive material 30 could be a paint as well as any of the well known adhesives. The plastic sheet 26 is next laid over a mold which has been previously formed to the general contour of the game. The painted tees, traps and fairways face upward away from the mold. The sheet 26 and mold are heated and by appropriate means, such as vacuum forming, the sheet 26 is caused to take the shape of the contour of the mold. The contoured sheet 26 is removed from the mold and while the adhesive is still tacky, flocking material is sprinkled over the adhesive on the sheet. The surplus flocking is blown off or removed from the surface whereupon a shaped contoured game board results. The greens, fairways and tees will have the flocked surface which will generally be green in color to simulate comparable portions of a golf course. Since the flocking material adhering to the adhesive will add some depth to the flocked area, the arrows forming the tees will be depressed from the flocked surrounding area which will serve as the ball holding area for teeing-up" for each hole. In similar fashion, since the sandtraps will not have the flocking, they will be depressed from the fairway or greens and will form an obstacle for shooting out of the traps when one is unfortunate enough to land therein.

The cups 22 which will be molded into the greens are formed with a relatively wide mouth 32 and will have ;a stepped down smaller apertured portion 34 at the bottom center of the cup. Flags 36 having appropriate cloth or card-. board pennants 38 on the upper portion thereof are adapted to be dropped into the aperture 34 to identify the cup or hole. The flags can'be numbered from 1 to 9 or 1 to 18, depending upon the number of fairways on the game. The cups 32 are deep enough to receive the ball therein, but not so deep that said ball cannot be easily removed with the fingers of a player. It has been found that a desirable depth is about one-half the diameter of the ball being used to play the game.

As can be seen inFlG. 5, the sandtraps 20 can be disposed on the adjoining sides of the green so as to form the natural obstacles normally encountered in a golf game. The sandtraps may have sand sprinkled on the paint before the paint sets up so as to adhere to the paint to give a realistic appearance and feel to the traps. This sandy feel or sandy nature of the traps will also react differently on the ball being used in the game necessitating a different type of stroke and greater skill to get the ball out of the traps when playing the game.

in PEG. 7 a golf club 40 is shown which has an elongate shaft 42, a club head 44 and a handle 46. The club head 44- can have identical surfaces on each side with a knurled hitting surface 48 formed in the .center portion thereof. Club head 44 is shaped in the same fashion as a normal iron used in the regular game of golf and extends laterally from the lower end portion of the shaft 42. It has been found that a desirable result is obtained by making the club head 44 of lead or some soft material which dcadens the striking surface somewhat and thereby providing more control in hitting the ball. The handle 46 is bent at substantially a right'ttngle to the shaft 42 and has an elongate cylindrical sleeve 50 attached thereto. The sleeve 50 is adapted to have serrations in the surface thereof and will generally be made of rubber, plastic or molded as part of the golf club material. A ball 52 which could be a relatively small ball bearing is provided each golfer for use in the game. The club is adapted to be used by gripping between the thumb 54 and index finger 56 of a player. A hand 58 as shown in dotted lines 57 in FIG. 7 has the thumb 54 and forefinger 56 disposed on opposite sides of the handle 50 of the club. By relative movement between the fingers of the hand 58 the club is caused to swing in an are about the longitudinal axis of the club handle 46. In'this way the ball 52 can be propelled about the surface of the game board. The club can be swung without bracing the hand on the game board or could be manipulated in any fashion without departing from my invention.

In playing a game, a ball 52 would be placed on the first tee marker 28 in the depression formed between the flock and the painted arrow, whereupon the first player using the club 40 would propel the ball down the fairway 14 toward the hole. The strokes would be counted in the usual fashion and any striking of the ball that carries it over into another fairway or off the game board would result in a penalty stroke which would be added to the player's score as in regular golf. In swinging the club a player may support the club in the air freely or may rest the third, fourth and fifth fingers of the hand on the surface surrounding the game board or on the game board itself. This would be to steady the hand and to permit greater skill in manipulating the club 40.

it is within the context of my invention that the paint for the tee markers and sandtraps as well as the adhesive for the fairways, could be applied after the base has been given its molded contour. The disadvantage to this later application of the material lies in the fact that the contouring affects the evenness of application of the paint and flock resulting in a surface of different shades of color due to different thickness of material. Under some circumstances this discontinuous coloring may be desirable.

Another alternative to the described method of making a board is to apply the adhesive for the flocking over all of the surface except the tee markers and sandtraps so that the contouring between greens would be flocked as well as the greens. This later method is somewhat less expensive, but nevertheless very attractive in appearance when finished. The flocking material on the fairways serves to drag on the ball 52 and slow it down very much like the grass on a regular fairway will do to a conventional ball. in this way the simulation to a real game of golf is heightened.

A modified'form of my invention is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 wherein the base 60 of my golf game is formed of styrofoam material which has been molded to the contour desired. That is, on one side 61 of the base 60, holes ll9 are formed with tee markers 62, fairways 64, sandtraps 66 and greens 68. Cups 70 are formed in the greens to receive a ball 52 and/or to support a flag 38. On the other side 75, holes l i8 are formed with the different tee markers, fairways, sandtraps, greens and cups. The tee markers 62 and sandtraps 66 are painted while the fairways 64 and greens 68 are flocked as described with respect to FIGS. 17.

A protrusion or rib 78 is formed midway between the upper and lower faces of the base 60 and extend outwardly from the vertical wall thereof. The rib 78 is engaged top and bottom by the edges of each half 80, 81 of the packaging box 82. in play first side 61 is faced upward and holes 19 are played, then the base 60 is turned over and holes 10-l8 are played in the fashion outlined above. A game with twice as many holes can be made with half the space using this modified form of my invention. Many combinations such as four holes on one side and five holes on the other side are possible without departing from my invention.

It is believed to be obvious that the form of my invention shown in FIGS. 1-7 could be made with styrofoam or similar pressed material and that the two-sided form of FIGS. tlit) could be made with plastics and the like without departing from my concept. Shrubbery and trees and other terrain can be pressed or molded in the base of either forms of my invention. Without flocking the fairways a flat puck could be used in place of the round ball but the identity to a regular golf game is somewhat diminished; however, the rules of the game of golf are still applicable for teaching purposes.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made from without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

lclaim:

l. A golf game comprising a contoured one-piece board formed of a unitary mass of foam plastic material having a plurality of tee-off spots and an equal number of green areas, flocking adhesively secured to said board defining a fairway leading from each said tee-off spot to an associated green area, flocking adhesively secured to said board in said green area, a ball-receiving cup depression seated in each said green area and having shallow side walls and an immovable bottom wall spanning the side walls at the cup bottom, a port in the cup bottom wall for receiving the butt end of a green flag, a ball adapted to be placed on a selected one of said tee-off spots and ofa size readily retrievable from said cup and means for propelling said ball from said tee-off spot toward said cup comprising an integral one-piece club having a shaft, said shaft including a hitting portion having two opposing striking faces laterally disposed on the bottom end of an upright portion of said shaft, and a gripping handle transversely carried on the other end of the shaft said gripping handle having an extent less than the upright portion of the shaft and having an enlarged tubular gripping sleeve with a roughened gripping surface on a substantial portion of the periphery of the sleeve, the handle and said sleeve comprising the sole supporting and manipulative elements of the club, to thereby adapt the club to be gripped between the thumb and forefinger of a player whereby twirling the gripping surface between said fingers moves the club head through a striking zone to strike the ball with one of the striking surfaces and propel the ball on the contoured surface.

2. The golf game of claim 1 wherein said unitary mass of foam plastic material comprises two opposing playing surfaces, each of said surfaces including a plurality of ball-receiving cups and associated flocked fairways and greens.

3. The golf game of claim 2 including rigid tray cover means for covering both playing surfaces of said board and defining a storage box with said board.

4. The golf game of claim 3 wherein said mass of foam plastic comprises a peripheral rib outstanding ffom the edge of the mass intermediate said two playing surfaces and said cover means comprises a pair of opposing trays having side wall lips for engaging said peripheral rib.

5. A golf game comprising a molded one-piece plastic board having two opposing playing surfaces on opposite sides thereof, each of said pla'ying'surfaces having a plurality of teeoff spots and an equal number of associated green areas, said board being molded of a unitary mass of foam plastic having the playing surfaces contoured to define ball-receiving cup depressions in said green areas and to define portions of fairways leading from each said tee-off spot to the appropriate associated green area, flocking adhesively secured to said playing surface defining said fairways and said green areas, each said ball-receiving cup depression being integrally formed in each green area and having shallow side walls and an immovable bottom wall spanning the side walls at the cup bottom,

means in each cup bottom wall for receiving the butt end of a green flag, a ball adapted to be placed on said tee-off spot and of a size readily retrievable from said cup, means for propelling said ball from said tee-off area toward said cup, a peripheral rib integrally formed of said foam plastic and outstanding from the edge of the board intermediate said two playing surfaces, and rigid tray cover means for covering both playing surfaces of said board, said cover means comprising a pair of opposing trays having side wall edges for engaging said peripheral rib whereby a storage box is formed with said board. 

